Cuomo loses Upstate again, but holds onto big cities

Cuomo had no trouble winning Onondaga County in 2014. He had almost 70,000 votes to Republican Astorino's 53,487. (That year, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins won almost 11,000 votes in Onondaga County, his home.)

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By Michelle Breidenbach

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, lost Upstate New York, according to the unofficial election night tally.

Cuomo won six out of 50 counties Upstate: Albany, Erie, Monroe, Onondaga, Tompkins and Ulster. Four of the counties happen to be home to the state's big Upstate cities: Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.

Republican Marc Molinaro carried 44 counties Upstate, plus three Downstate counties: Dutchess County, where he is county executive, Orange County and Putnam County.

Molinaro also won more votes than Cuomo Upstate, with 1,090,382 votes (54.9 percent) to Cuomo's 894,800 (45.1 percent), according to unofficial results.

A Siena Poll released the weekend before the election showed Cuomo losing in Upstate NY to Molinaro. The poll showed Molinaro leading Upstate by 10 percentage points (46-36 percent).

Cuomo had no trouble winning Onondaga County in 2014. He had almost 70,000 votes to Republican Astorino's 53,487. (That year, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins won almost 11,000 votes in Onondaga County, his home.)

There are 11.6 million active voters in New York state. About 32 percent live Upstate.

Enrollment in Upstate New York leans blue with 1.4 million Democrats, 1.2 million Republicans and 855,000 voters not enrolled in a party, according to the latest voter enrollment records at the NYS Board of Elections.

(For this report, Upstate includes the 50 counties north of Dutchess and Orange counties.)